


We were not magnificent

by amelia_kate



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adult Losers Club (IT), Cuddling & Snuggling, Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Kissing, LGBTQ Character of Color, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Pining, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, Teenage Losers Club (IT)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:29:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29613630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amelia_kate/pseuds/amelia_kate
Summary: Evelyn D'Alia was a firm believer that the idea soulmates was complete bullshit. How could one person be destined to love someone else when there a billions of lonely souls on the planet? Though, with time, the idea of soulmates sounded more and more appealing.Eve was an ordinary girl with an ordinary life. She didn't smile as often as she wished she had, or danced when her feet begged her.Then, she met them and her life was no longer ordinary.disclaimer: I don't own anything except my oc and her story luv u
Relationships: Beverly Marsh/Original Female Character(s), Beverly Marsh/Reader, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, The Losers Club (IT) & Original Female Character(s)





	1. Afternoon sun and bloodstained clothes

The sun was warm against her skin and the thin straps of her sundress chafed against the small white tee shirt she was wearing underneath. Her sneakers squeaked against the pavement, the geers of her blue bike stirring next to her. Her mother had been reluctant to let her leave the house unaccompanied, her fears only increasing with each new disappearance. Though, Eve promised her mother she would come straight home after stopping at the pharmacy. After all, she really fucking needed some tampons. 

She walked up towards the back of the shop, her long legs carrying her up the wide alley until her eyes caught sight of the scene unfolding in front of her and she froze, her eyebrows furrowed with a mix of confusion and suspicion. She had seen this group of boys hanging around before, but she had never seen them with the kid sitting on a crate in the middle of them. For the most part, she knew their names from the countless classes she had shared with them since elementary school. Richie Tozier was by far the most memorable, though also the most annoying in her opinion. Bill was the kindest. She had history with him the previous year and he had given her the homework answers numerous times. She envied their closeness, wishing she could be a part of a group like theirs instead of her odd acquaintance-friendship type relationships she seemed to always find herself in. Her eyes darted across the boys’ faces in front of her, racking her brain for their respective names and her first impression of each one. Then, however, her eyes landed on the large red stain on the sitting boy’s stomach.  _ Shit. _

Her dark brown eyes widened comically at the sight of the blood seeping through his tee shirt. Forgetting herself, the bike in her hands clambered onto the stone floor with a loud rattling noise. Instantly, all five of their heads whipped towards her, their eyes frantic and their faces resembling one of a child caught sticking their hand into the cookie jar. She looked between them again frantically, her mouth opening and closing like a dying fish. 

The second tallest one, Bill if she remembers correctly, stepped forwards slightly with a sheepish grin facing his face. “H-Hi. Um w-w-what’s u-up?” He stammered, his stutter more noticeable now that he was nervous. 

She blinked a few times before letting out a low whistle. “What the fuck happened to you?” 

Relief and confusion flooded their faces. Confused by her choice of words? Her question in general? She wasn’t sure. 

“Seriously,” she began again, “why is there an ‘h’  _ carved _ into your stomach and  _ why _ haven’t you bandaged it yet?”

The smallest one, Eddie, rolled his eyes before speaking. “We just found him like this and now we need stuff to actually  _ help _ him.” His voice was high and fast, reminding her of her older sister who, despite approaching her sophomore year of college, had a higher voice than her. 

It was Evelyn’s turn to roll her eyes as she walked towards the pharmacy, motioning for the boys to follow her. She didn’t look behind her to check if they had followed or not as she stepped into the cool, air conditioned store. She made a beeline for the bandage-esque isle, her converse squeaking on the tiled flooring. Three figures approached her and with a quick glance behind her, she found Eddie, Bill, and a taller boy with curly hair that she didn’t know the name of standing there. A pang of guilt settled in her stomach, she wasn’t sure why she felt bad she didn’t know his name when the two of them had never actually met, but it still felt like a betrayal of some sort. Eddie then weaseled around her, his hands went flying up to the shelves as he grabbed cotton balls, a few types of gauze, medical tape, and some shit she didn’t recognize. She looked down at the load of supplies in his arms with her eyebrows raised, a question in her eyes. 

“You guys have enough money for all that?” She asked, her voice laced with disbelief. She was impressed, though that feeling quickly died as the curly haired boy pulled out three crumpled dollar bills. 

She winced as the three boys whispered to each other about their poor financial situation and begrudgingly she pulled out the twenty dollar bill her mom had given her so she could buy a singular box of 36 tampons. She knew the box would only be around fifteen dollars, and so she was planning on buying a couple candy bars for her and her mother to share, sort of as a thank you for allowing her to keep the change. Now though, she contemplated her need for  _ 36 _ tampons, and whether or not she could use the money to pay for the supplies needed to patch up the bleeding kid outside. She figured since she only had a day or two left of her cycle, she could afford to stuff some toilet paper in her underwear or maybe find a spare tampon or pad lying around. Surely her mom would understand, right?

Though, just as she was about to present the money to the boys, their conversation stopped abruptly and their gaze lingered on the space behind her. Curious, Evelyn turned around to face whatever it is that caught their attention. Standing in front of her was a redheaded girl she had met a few times during school, Beverly. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, her hand clasped around something hidden behind her back. A roll of medical tape fell from the bundle in Eddie’s arms and Evelyn jumped instinctively. 

Bill looked at the girl curiously before speaking, his stutter now not very noticeable. “Y-you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Beverly replied instantly, “what’s wrong with you?”

The four of them looked at eachother, shaking their heads slightly at Beverly. 

“None of your business,” the curly haired boy had stammered. 

Eve sighed and shot a quick glare towards the taller boy. Then, Eddie in all his genius decided he should speak. 

“There’s a kid outside. Looks like someone killed him.”

“Dude,” she sighed, her exasperation evident. 

Bill looked between her and Eddie before adding, “we n-need s-s-some s-supplies, but we don’t have any m-money.” His voice was quiet and Evelyn struggled to hear the majority of what he had just said, despite their close proximity. 

Beverly stilled for a moment, thoughts flashing across her face rapidly. And then, she left them. The four of them whirled around to see where she was going, which Eve assumed was the register, though she wasn’t sure why. She and Bill shared a confused glance before turning their attention back to the conversation between Beverly and the man working behind the counter. His hair was thinning considerably and his face was aged with wrinkles. His large glasses sat at the bridge of his nose and Eve couldn’t help but think it made him look older. 

They couldn’t quite hear the bulk of the conversation, but they could hear enough to know she was complimenting his glasses. Something about Clarke Kent? Then, he had taken the glasses off his face and handed them to her. Discomfort stirred in the pit of Evelyn’s stomach as she watched Beverly place them on herself and continue to talk with the older man. Though, it seemed to hold much more of a resemblance to flirting than she assumed Beverly would have been comfortable with. Beverly took the glasses of her face once more and as she went to hand them back to the man, her hand “slipped” and she knocked over the cigarette case that had been previously sitting on the counter. The plastic container was loud as it fell, and Eve’s confusion only grew once the man reluctantly reached down to pick it up and Beverly’s eyes met her own. Evelyn tilted her head as a show of confusion and Beverly in turn motioned her head towards the door. 

Oh. 

_ Oh _ .

Without hesitation, Evelyn twirled around, grabbing Eddie’s arm lightly as she did so he would come with her. Only, she misjudged the boy’s athleticism and he stumbled into the sunglass display when she tugged. This time, Bill clapped Eddie on the back and ushered for the four of them to run out of the store. Eve found it extremely hard to contain her laughter as she exited the pharmacy, and by the pouting look on Eddie’s face, she wasn’t doing a very good job. 

She followed the boys back down the alley, her mood dampening as she was reminded why they needed the medical supplies in the first place. She kneeled down in front of him, Eddie organizing the supplies next to her. She lifted up her hand, her olive skin seeming slightly darker in the shade, and gently pulled the hem of his tee shirt into her palm. She looked up at him expectantly, her eyes motioning from him to her hand on his shirt in place of a verbal question. Hesitantly, he nodded and she pretended she didn’t see the blush forming on his round cheeks. 

She forced her eyes not to widen at the injury, feering she might make the pain worse if he knew how deep the cuts went. She glanced over at Eddie, his face surprisingly close to her own, and waited for him to take the lead. She knew she had more medical experience than the other boys considering her mother was a practicing ER nurse, but she didn’t have much faith in her knowledge. She figured it would just be safer to let Eddie, who seemed to know more about patching up a wound than he probably should, take the lead on this. 

He placed a square piece of gauze on the wound, allowing for Eve to hold it in place while he taped half of it. She was curious as to what the fuck he was doing, but opted to keep her mouth shut. It would only annoy him and maybe cause him to lose whatever focus shit he had going on right now. 

Richie on the other hand, found no reason not to speak. “Suck the wound,” he commented, his voice a mix of seriousness and humor and Eve wasn’t quite sure if it was meant to be a joke or not. It probably was. 

“I need to focus right now!” Eddie snapped as a response. 

“Oh? You need to focus?” Richie asked, and Evelyn could practically feel the ever growing smirk on his lips. She rolled her eyes and moved her hand slightly so Eddie could lift up the gauze to see the wound. Again, she had no clue as to what he was trying to accomplish. The wound would obviously need stitches considering how deep each cut went. Though, she supposed they didn’t exactly have the materials to actually give him stitches. And while she would certainly be able to, she didn’t think he would really want her to give him stitches in the middle of an alley. 

“Yeah,” Eddie replied, “can you go get me something? Just-”

“Oh, what do you need?” Richie asked, his voice void of the teasing tone he had previously. 

Eddie looked up to him, his hands still on the gauze covering the wound. “Go get my bifocals.”

“It’s hidden in my second fanny pack,” he added. 

Evelyn looked up at him curiously, amusement written on her tan face. “You have a _ second  _ fanny pack?” She asked, her voice teasing. 

The curly haired boy seemed to be just as confused as he asked, “why do you have two fanny packs?”

Eddie sighed, his fluffy brown hair falling into his face slightly. “Well, I need to focus right now and it’s not important.” 

And then he removed the gauze completely and Evelyn felt her heartbeat quicken. She shared a frantic look with Eddie as more blood poured out of his wound. She looked up at him, his face was pale and she wondered how he hadn’t passed out from the blood loss yet. How long ago did they say they found him? She averted her gaze back down to the wound, a series of panicked words going in one ear and out the other. 

Again, Richie gave his advice and Eddie dismissed it. Eve wasn’t quite sure when she had zoned back in, but now the kid in front of her was pushing their hands away as two sets of footsteps sounded throughout the alley. She furrowed her brows but obeyed and retracted her hands, stepping up from her crouched position to stand next to the curly haired boy. She looked up to find Bill and Beverly making their way down from the street, Beverly’s smile was warm and her eyes were fixated on the kid sitting down. 

“Are you okay?” She asked, her voice laced with concern. “That looks like it hurts.”

The boy smiled bashfully and squirmed slightly in his seat on the old wooden crates. “Oh, no I’m good I just...fell.” 

Eve shared a confused glance with the girl. It’s obvious the cuts on his stomach were intentional, so why would he lie?

“Yeah,” Richie began sarcastically, “right into Henry Bowers.”

Bill shushed him as Beverly took a step closer to the boy in front of her, her brows were furrowed and while her eyes were as kind as always, concern swirled within them. 

She smiled, the right side of her mouth curling upwards slightly more than the left. “You sure they got the right...stuff? To fix you up?” She asked. 

Seeing as the boy on the crates was too flustered to respond, Bill faced Beverly again with a small smile. “You know, uh, w-w-we’ll take c-care of him. Thanks again, B-Beverly.” 

Evelyn watched curiously as the two held eye contact, her mind struggling to focus on the words coming out of Beverly’s mouth. She did however, catch the last segment of her sentence. 

“-maybe I’ll see you around,” she said, not as a question though, more as a statement. A promise. 

Bill looked around at his friends, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly. “W-we were actually t-thinking of going t-to the q-quarry tomorrow...if you wanted...to come…” His voice faded out towards the end and Eve struggled once again to hear what he had said. Though, judging by the way Richie’s eyes bulged out of his head, it wasn’t something they had discussed previously. 

Beverly paused for a moment and smiled. “Good to know,” she said as she began walking back towards the street, “thanks.”

Once she was out of earshot, the curly haired boy turned back towards Richie. “Nice going, bringing up Bowers in front of her.” His voice was hushed, though Eve could still tell he was frustrated. 

“Yeah dude,” Eddie added, now standing, “didn’t you hear what she did?”

Evelyn thought for a moment, and then, after the kid sitting down had asked the same question she was about to, realization washed over her. 

“More like  _ who’d _ she do. I heard the list is longer than my wang.” As Richie spoke, he grabbed the fabric of his crotch area and Eve rolled her eyes once again. 

“That’s not saying much,” the curly haired boy replied and a small smirk formed on her lips. She decided then that she needed to figure out the tall boy’s name. 

Bill looked between his friends, his eyes meeting Eve’s unamused ones for a moment. “T-they j-j-just rumors.” 

“Anyway, Bill had her back in third grade,” Richie added, sending a wave of raised eyebrows and smug smiles towards the boy in question. “They kissed in the school play! The teacher said that you can’t fake that sort of passion!” He added. 

“Now!” Richie announced in a horrible british accent, “pip pip and terry oh, my good fellows! I believe this chap requires our utmost attention! Get in there, doctor K! Come on there, fix him up.” 

Dutifully, Eve followed Eddie back down into a crouching position, the kid’s wound at her eye level. 

Eddie glared up at his friend as his hands resumed their position over the bloody cuts. “Why don’t you shut the fuck up Eintsien? Because I know what I’m doing and I don’t want you doing the British guy-” 

“Suck the wound, get in there!”

Evelyn rolled her eyes, though not so much out of annoyance and more so out of amusement. Sure, they were assholes and they were losers, but they had fun and they clearly cared for each other deeply. She wished she would find friends like this someday. 

Forcing her jealousy down, she grabbed the sewing needle from out of her pocket and held it up in the air in front of Eddie’s face. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked between the needle and herself a couple times before she decided she had to speak. 

“He needs stitches,” she informed him, “I know how to do them so either you do them, or I do them.”

He studied her face for a moment and then grabbed the needle from her hands, his calloused fingers brushing against hers for a split second. She heard a snicker from behind them but resisted the urge to turn around. 

“I’ll do them.” 


	2. The Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evelyn gets to hangout with the losers for the first time and to say she's excited might be a bit of an understatement.

She watched carefully as Eddie stitched up the kid’s carved out stomach, his nimble hands working with more skill than Evelyn had anticipated. She managed to ignore all of Richie’s comments, instead focusing all her energy into making sure the kid in front of her, who she had learned to be named Ben, wasn’t going to drop dead at any moment. She had also learned that the curly haired boy’s name was Stan. Eve allowed Eddie to boss her around, telling her what he needed, where to put her hands to stop the bleeding and when to release them. 

Soon enough though, she and Eddie had finished the stitches, tying the string off with one final knot. She stood up from her crouched position and had to resist the urge to wipe her bloody hands onto her sundress. Suddenly, remembering she hadn’t come here empty handed, she walked over to her fallen bike. She searched through the tote bag that now lay on the dirty ground, and let out a triumphant noise as her hands clasped around the lukewarm bottle of soda she had brought. With a smile, Evelyn made her way back to Ben and offered him the drink in her outstretched hand. His eyebrows rose and he looked up at her curiously. 

“It’s kind of warm now,” she admitted sheepishly, “but I thought it might make you feel a bit better.”

He took the beverage with a bashful smile, only to drop it as he heard a couple cries of protest. 

“Why does he get soda? I’m the one that had to do all the work!” Eddie whined, his head spinning to look at his friends for some support. 

“Yeah!” Richie added, his arms flinging upwards and falling limp at his sides. “I want a soda too!”

Eve rolled her eyes, her full lips falling into a devilish smirk. “Yeah, well he did have Bowers carve the letter h into his stomach and had to get it stitched up, so I think that calls for a grossly warm bottle of coke. Though, I’d be happy to give the same for free.”

Richie met her smirk with a glare, his unfitting glasses only aiding him in making his eyes bigger.

Evelyn smiled smugly at him, and when his eyes met hers once again, she simply winked teasingly. Satisfied with the annoyance dancing across Richie’s face, she turned on her heel and stalked over to the discarded bike. She could hear the remaining boys whispering loudly to one another. She chose not to eavesdrop. 

With an amused smile, she picked up her blue bike from the handle bars and hoisted it to its full height. She started making her way up the alley and towards the pharmacy when the sound of some forced coughs made her turn around, eyebrows arched slightly. Richie was still in his spot furthest from her but his arms were now crossed against his chest and his face contorted into a pout that made him look younger than he was. Eddie looked indifferent, though he hadn’t moved from his spot next to Richie. Ben was now standing and he and Stan were shifting nervously from one foot to the other. Bill however, had taken a few steps closer to her. His eyes were scanning her face nervously and as an act of pity, Evelyn decided she should fill the silence first. 

“I’ve got to go, my mom’s expecting me and if I don’t make it home on time I have a feeling she’ll panic and call the police,” she laughed softly, hoping to lessen the awkwardness filling the air. “Keep an eye on those stitches, make sure it doesn’t get infected, okay?”

Ben nodded, his cheeks heating up at the reminder of his injury. With a smile and a nod, Eve made to turn around again only to be stopped by Bill. Curious, she tilted her head to the side, her dark curls brushing past her shoulders. 

“T-thanks. We’ll uh s-s-see you at the quarry tom-morrow?” He asked, eyes shifting back to his friends. 

“Oh,” Evelyn replied, her surprise surely evident on her face. She understood inviting Beverly to hangout with them, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the logic of inviting  _ her. _ “Yeah, I uh, I’ll see you guys tomorrow then.” 

And with a smile, she made her way up to the pharmacy and out of the alley. 

***

Her mother was pissed beyond belief when she got home almost an hour later than she had promised. She had received an earful about how scared and worried her mother had been, wondering and stressing about where she had been. Unfortunately for Evelyn, this made it that much more difficult to convince her mom to let her go swimming with a group of kids she had basically just met. After a few hours of unabashed ass kissing, she was able to convince her mother to let her ride her bike down to the lake and swim in the unknown water with unknown people. Evelyn had a sinking suspicion that her mother had only allowed her this pleasure due to the fact that she really hadn’t hung out with anyone for the past year or so. She decided that she didn’t care if this was an act of pity, she would just focus on the warm feeling of being included. 

The gentle summer breeze ruffled through her loose hair, her curls flying past her face freely. A soft smile was tugging at her lips and she silently debated if she should allow herself to break out into a full smile.  _ Fuck it.  _

With a large smile gracing her round face, she made her way to the cliff she assumed the boys would be stationed, waiting or simply too scared to jump as they had seen others do before them. She herself had never made the jump off the cliff, never swam in the murky waters of the lake beneath it. She had, however received a fair amount of swimming lessons, even joining (and promptly quitting), the local swim team during her fifth year of elementary school. Evelyn’s smile widened as she rode her bike up the patchy grass separating her from the five boys in front of her. They had all stripped to their underwear and were now standing in a line at the edge of a cliff. They seemed to be arguing about something and Eve decided it would be a perfect opportunity to startle them. So, with a shit-eating grin plastered across her cheeks, she silently made her way towards the boys. She aimed for the middle of the group where Bill and Ben were standing, though she ended up behind Stanley. She didn’t mind, it would be easier to spook them if she popped her head out from behind the shoulder of the tallest boy there. 

“What’re ya doin?” She asked, her voice in a hushed, amused whisper. 

They all jumped, Eddie letting out a small shriek of terror as he turned around to face her with wide eyes. This time, she couldn't contain the laughter that flowed from her mouth. “You-” she wheezed, her eyes filling with tears and her stomach aching, “you should have seen your faces.” 

When she finally regained her composure after what felt like a long forty seven minutes, she was met with five light-hearted glares. She shrugged, smiling sheepishly as she squeezed her way into the line in between Stan and Richie. 

“Funny,” Richie deadpanned, “really original.” 

She smiled and overdramatically bowed, her arms flailing about to add effect. “Thank you, thank you. I know, I truly am simply  _ hilarious _ .” 

She leaned over the edge of the cliff slightly, silently trying to gauge the distance between her and the surface of the water below. Though she was a fairly decent swimmer, possibly better than average if she were reaching, she had never been a  _ fan _ of the water. The unknown depth, the possible creatures lurking beneath the surface waiting to tug on her ankles and drown her. She hadn’t planned on actually  _ swimming _ in the lake and so she hadn’t actually brought a swimsuit with her, knowing that the chances of her encountering some weirdly large fish or turtle were drastically higher than if she were swimming in the public,  _ chlorinated _ pool. Though, standing here now with the five boys so apprehensive to jump into the water, made the offer oddly more appealing. After all, it was exhaustingly hot today and her denim shorts were chafing her mid thighs-

“Alright,” Bill’s voice sounded, pulling her out of her thoughts, “who’s first?” 

The six of them looked between each other, waiting for someone, anyone to take that final step off the side of the rocky ledge. 

And then: “I’ll go!” 

Evelyn whipped her head around at the sound of a new yet familiar voice. Behind them, Beverly was walking away from her discarded bike and heading towards them, unbuttoning the mainy buttons on the front of her dress until that was discarded as well. She was running towards them now, clad in nothing but her pair of mismatched bra and underwear. Evelyn’s body froze, her feet mindlessly moving so Beverly would have enough space to safely jump off the cliff. 

And as she jumped, Eve decided then that she was going to swim in the murky lake. Hastily and with a large grin spread across her cheeks, she lifted her tee shirt off and began to unfasten her jean shorts, her smile only widening as she heard Richie yell some sort of profanity that she herself would probably have said had she not been preoccupied with her shorts. 

The boys were still stunned once she had finished undressing, her movement further away from the edge of the cliff serving to snap them out of their respective dazes. Once she was a ways away, she heard Richie exclaim, “ah holy shit! We just got shown up by a girl!” And she smiled once more. 

Her feet began moving just as Beverly’s had, and though she was expecting to feel her fear seep into the pit of her stomach as it had before, she was surprised to find it hadn’t. 

“Two actually!” She called after herself as she ran past them and dove gracefully off the cliff. If her years of swim practice taught her anything, it was how to fucking dive. 

She got closer and closer and closer to the water and then…  **_splash_ ** .

***

They swam around for a while, their arms flailing and splashing, the sounds of their laughter filling the empty silence surrounding them. At one point, Richie and Eddie had seemingly found a turtle and despite Evelyn’s dislike for creatures that lurked in the depths of the water, her curiosity got the better of her and she was pleased to find it was a normal, small, unassuming turtle. Eventually though, their limbs had grown tired and their lungs heaved for air, so the seven of them made their way to the rocky shore by the lake. A boombox had been placed on the tip of one of the rocks and Eve wasn’t quite sure who had put it there. She enjoyed it regardless of the unknown owner. 

She had asked if anyone had some paper and a pencil and was more than delighted when Ben handed her a binder filled with lined paper and a number two pencil. She sat with her back leaned against a larger rock, her front facing the breathtaking landscape in front of her. Eddie had sat against the adjacent side of her rock, his body parallel to the lake. Everyone filled into the remaining spaces, Beverly opting to sunbathe on a towel rather than sit on one of the rocks. Eve couldn’t really blame her though, they were rather uncomfortable seating arrangements. 

With a small smile, Evelyn had begun to sketch out the layout of what she envisioned her drawing to be. Her hand moved freely, the graphite dancing along the paper delicately. She didn’t remember when exactly she had realized she was good at drawing, probably sometime in third or fourth grade, but she was grateful for that revelation every time she picked up a pencil. The music provided from the boombox was a delightful background noise as she sketched away, pausing every now and then only to catch the boys staring unabashedly at Beverly’s sunbathing form. She shook her head and let out a soft laugh each time before returning back to her work. 

Then, a conversation broke out about Ben and his oddly filled backpack. Noticing Beverly had tuned into the conversation, Eve thought it might be worth her time to actually listen to what they were saying. Richie pulled out a few folders from the backpack and glanced at them curiously before handing them along to Bill who was sitting on the other side of Ben. 

“What’s with the history reports?” Eddie asked, standing up now so he could look over Richie’s shoulder. 

This,  _ this _ had caught Evelyn’s attention. Curious, she got up from her spot against the rock and waddled over to get a closer look at the so-called “history project.” She took a seat next to Stanley, peering over his shoulder. 

“Oh, well,” Ben began, “when I first moved here I didn’t...really have anyone to hangout with. So, I just started spending time in the library.” His voice was soft spoken, vulnerable almost, and Eve felt a pang of sympathy with his words. 

Richie scoffed, “you went to the library? On purpose?” 

Beverly then had decided she also wanted to know what they were talking about. She clambered up from her spot on her towel and took a seat next to Bill, uttering the amused words: “Ooh, I want to see!”

Evelyn noticed the way that Bill and Ben had stiffened as she took her seat, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at the two. Shrugging the feeling off, she gently grabbed one of the documents from Stan’s hands and examined it hungrily with her eyes. 

“What’s the Blackspot?” Stan asked, accepting a new picture from Richie. 

“Oh,” Eddie replied nonchalantly, “it was that nightclub that got burned down by that racist cult.” 

Eve snorted at the bluntness of his words but kept herself from laughing fully as she switched documents with Richie. 

Stanley looked between the three of them confusedly. “What?”

Richie rolled his eyes and pushed the brim of his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you ever watch Waldo?” He quipped, earning a confused shake of the head by Stan and an unamused glare by Evelyn. 

“Y-your hair,” Bill had stammered suddenly, causing all six pairs of eyes to land on him with curiosity and anticipation. Evelyn wondered if he would compliment her new haircut as she had while they were swimming, or make an oddly cold remake about how he had liked her longer hair better. Her question was never answered though as Ben took the silence as an opportunity to voice his opinion on her new hair choice. 

“Your, your hair’s beautiful...Beverly.”

“Oh,” she replied, self consciously tucking the loose strands out and away from her freckled face, “right, Thanks.” 

An uncomfortable silence passed for a few seconds before Eve decided she would be the one to break it. 

“Can I see that folder?” She asked, her hand pointing to the one in Bill’s lap. With a nod, he handed it to her and Richie leaned over her shoulder curiously. 

“Why’s it all murders and missing kids?” He asked, taking the folder from her grasp and flipping through the pages. 

Eve jabbed him in the stomach lightly and pulled the folder out of his hands. He let out a low huff and continued to look at the documents from his place standing over her shoulder. 

Ben looked up at him, thoughts swimming through his kind eyes. “Derry’s not like...any town I’ve ever been in before,” he replied, his voice slow as if he were sharing some life altering secret, or telling them some shocking news that he thought they might faint at, or-

“They did a study once,” he continued, “and it turns out, people die or disappear six times the national average.”

A heavy silence fell upon them, no one sure what the right response to that statement would be. 

“You read that?” Beverly asked, leaning closer to him slightly. 

He nodded. “And that’s just the adults. The kids are worse, way, way worse.”

“How much worse?” Eve asked, her eyebrows raised with intrigue. 

He perked up at her question and glanced from face to face. “I’ve got more stuff if you like.” 


End file.
